Suman

In African religion, and especially among the Akan, the presence of suman is a significant part of the culture. A suman is a material object that is dedicated to religious purposes because of its energy. Because religion is based on a set of beliefs, suman is an aspect of the religion that is derived from a belief in the energizing capacity of certain objects. Most African cultures accept the following hierarchy: God, the ancestors, the spirits, the totem, and suman, also called charms.

The suman is a specialized piece of art that is used as a talisman or charm for offensive or defensive capabilities. A suman is not a fetish, a word derived from the Portuguese word fetico, which originally referred to an object that was used as an amulet. The idea behind fetico was that the object was the religion. This is why so many people in the West thought of African religion as fetish religion. In fact, long before they knew anything about African religion on a practical or philosophical level, many people in Europe and America referred to African religion by the Portuguese-derived term fetish. To use the word fetish is to collapse the full meaning of African religion to the “things” of religion.

Suman is not the same thing as obosom. Whereas suman is a dedicated religious artifact, obosom means deity. These are two different concepts in African religion. The suman is an object that might be used to fend off evil spirits, create protection around the defenseless, or empower people to achieve something that they did not know they were capable of doing.

One receives the suman from a priest who has sanctioned its use as an object set apart for the purpose of spiritual energy. Thus, it is not something that can be taken from the environment without being “sanctified” by the proper rituals of the religion. To be effective, the suman must be made powerful and can be considered a form of magical power because the material object signifies the means through which important power can be activated.

In some senses, the idea that evil exists in the world calls into being the existence of a power that is equally strong, and that force is channeled through the suman. Therefore, the suman serves as a personal security and protection device, much like a weapon for combating evil or an instrument for doing good. African religion takes the suman as a necessary component of the religion when one is confronted with evil that is unexplained or that occurs as a result of malice.

The suman can be used by diviners, medicine men, herbalists, and rainmakers to bring about good in the world. In contrast, the suman can be used to create chaos for one's enemies. In light of the various uses of the suman, it is important for the student of African religion to know that the suman's activation is dependent on the proper rituals being carried out by the proper officiate.